New York Giants add guard Zac Kerin to the offensive line fold

The New York Giants add more depth to the interior of its offensive line with the signing of Zac Kerin.

New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman added another hog molly to the team on Thursday afternoon, signing offensive lineman Zac Kerin to add depth to the interior of the Big Blue offensive line at the guard and center positions.

In bringing Kerin into the fold, the Giants made a corresponding move to waive guard Ethan Cooper as reported by ESPN’s Jordan Raanan. Cooper participated on the Giants’ practice squad this past season.

Giants signed guard Zac Kerin. To make room they waived guard/center Ethan Cooper. Kerin has appeared in 14 career games for the Vikings and Lions.

Kerin was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent after his non-selection in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Toledo.

After spending his first year on the Vikings’ practice squad, Kerin played as a reserve offensive lineman for the team in 2015 and 2016, playing in a total of 13 games before being waived at the beginning of last season.

Kerin was then signed off waivers by the Detroit Lions and made his only NFL start for the team at left guard against the Atlanta Falcons, before going down with a season-ending knee injury.

There is some familiarity between Kerin and new Giants head coach Pat Shurmur as Kerin played under Shurmur for a bit during his time with the Vikings.

Kerin joins a very crowded guard position with the Giants.

Right now at left guard, 2018 second-round pick Will Hernandez has the lead with Chris Scott and Malcolm Bunche behind him. Scott has a good amount of NFL experience, having 12 career starts, most recently making four starts at right guard for the Carolina Panthers during the 2016 season.

At right guard, Patrick Omameh holds the lead after an impressive mini-camp and playing great at left guard last season for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Veterans John Greco and John Jerry are behind him. Greco was a mainstay on the offensive line for the Cleveland Browns during his six years there, starting 66 games at either center or guard for the team.

Jerry, as most know, has predominantly been a starter at guard for the Giants during his four seasons in New York. He started every game the past two seasons at either left or right guard for Big Blue.

It’ll be tough for Kerin to make the team at guard, so his best bet would be at center. Kerin played center when he was at Toledo and has a couple of snaps under his belt at center when he was with the Vikings.

Brett Jones and Jon Halapio are both currently battling it out at the Giants’ starting center spot. Both players are still unproven players. Jones is a very underrated player and played well at both center and guard in 13 starts for the Giants last season. Halapio showed off his strong play in the latter half of the 2017 season in his six starts at guard for Big Blue.

Giants figure to keep only two to three interior offensive lineman as backups on their 53-man roster when all is said and done.

The signing of Kerin comes a day after the Giants drafted corner Sam Beal out of Western Michigan in the third-round of the 2018 Supplemental Draft.